Who ever said Lacrosse isn't physical is WRONG

Just by the first picture of this blog and by the title you can see where this is going to be going. After 3 hours of covering baseball I was at Southern Lehigh's Football Stadium to cover a lacrosse game against Easton. By talking to some of the kids on the team this was going to be a huge game, they also said that Easton isn't known for their skills but they are physical so I was pretty excited and looking forward to the game.

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Above Long pole Brett Ryan looks like he is about to curb stomp a kid.

About 5 minutes into the game I knew that I was in for a treat and that this would be a hard hitting game from beginning to end.

Below middy Greg Parker levels a kid in the open field.

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Easton got out to an early lead with 2 quick goals in the first two minutes and kept going after that.

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Above middy Greg Parker attempts to block a shot on goal.

With the first half coming to an end I got one of the biggest hits I have ever seen in person. middy Dave Stohl was in the open field and got leveled on a break away. I put the shots into a movie, there are five clips of the hit total but it plays it through 3 times. Look in the middle of the shot and you will see the hit.

After getting about 5 txts from friends in the stands asking if I had got the shot I went up and showed them myself and they agreed that the hit would have made ESPN's jacked up list.

Here are a few stock shots from the game.

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Above attack man Jake Metzger out runs an Easton defender.

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Above middy Steve Lick sprints down field with his 4.6 speed lol.

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After I thought that the game was going great for me, I hadn't missed anything big and I had gotten alot of cool shots, I missed a BIG hit from Long Pole Brett Ryan. I let go of the shutter 1 or 2 frames to soon. Sorry Brett....

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And that wraps up a big hitting lacrosse game for me.

Portraits.......Day 2

Today was my second day in a row shooting portraits. My good buddy Trevor and I set out to a couple places that I had been scouting at around 1. The first place we went to was right behind my house in a nice woody area that would provide a nice place for some pictures.

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After about 30 or 45 minutes Trevor and I decided to go to another place, a place that not many people know about. My Dad showed me this place when I was real little. He was a Police Officer for 15 years in Upper Saucon Township so he knows the area like the back of his hand. Anyway he showed me the biggest tree in Lehigh County. In all honesty it would take about 4 guys arm to arm to wrap around the tree.

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After we got done shooting at the massive tree we went to this old shack that is right next to a road. I'm not really sure what it was used for but it looks really rugged and good for pictures.

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Then we went back to my house and got some studio lighting going and had a little fun with his guitar and my poker table.

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After we were finally done Trevor did something dumb and got arrested. JK

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That ends my second day of shooting portraits. Thanks Trevor.

Portraits..........Day 1

The blog that I am writing to you now is going to be 1 of 3 days of getting away from shooting sports. April 4th, 5th, and 7th I have portrait shoots. The first day will just be a practice day with my lovely girlfriend and maybe her brother or sister who knows they might want to get a picture or two.

This might be my second time ever doing portraits so what i have been doing alot lately is reading the blog of legendary photographer, Joe McNally. I also have been doing research on how to use multiple flashes to create a mood for the picture. My girl friend and I spent a good 3 hours in her basement so that I could get the hang out it before the actual shoot that matters which is tomorrow.

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Because I am poor (jk) I cant afford pocket wizards, so I used the fake Chinese triggers or aka (omg I hope to god they fire triggers). On more than one occasion they didn't fire and Amanda had a great pose and the shot was ruined. For the most part they worked great and I should stop complaing because without her Father I wouldn't have access to half of this gear.

I really like this shot un cropped because it gives the shot feel. Doing what I do I get really excited when I look at a shot off the screen of my camera and I stare at it for like 30 seconds and automatically that is my favorite shot from the shoot not matter what else i get the rest of the time.

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Nikon D200 12-24mm f/4 1/100 iso 400

People say that guys do better with real hard light......idk if I agree. The light in the above picture is really hard on the left side of her face (my left not hers) and I love the picture, once again the light gives the picture feel.

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Photo by: Alan Sunners

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Thanks again Amanda and Alan Sunners

New Sigma 120-400 and a Lacrosse game

Today was my first time using my brand new, right out of the box Sigma 120-400mm lense. I have to say that I may be in love with it. The week before the game when it was on it's way I was really looking forward to using it on a sport such as lacrosse because it's a fast sport on a big field.

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Team mates Steve Lick and Nicky Daniels pose for a picture during warm ups. I got there way early to get a feel for the new lense and try to see what works with it and what doesn't. After about 45 minutes of me talking to friends the game started and my settings were still not dialed in. After I got to work it didn't take to long because it was a very nice day out and there was really really good light on the field.

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I really like these two shots because he is doing the "Jeter" lacrosse style, there isn't much difference.

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After a very busy first quarter from the Spartans the second quarter started out fast. Greg Parker #16 sprinting down the field and turns a defender around as he flys past.

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Whats funny to me is I got a great shot of him but I also got one that might make him a little mad that i put this up here. There was a ground ball around mid-field and Greg was going to get but didn't know that there was a kid behind him and he got trampled.

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I'll be hearing about that one for awhile in school but I still think its funny. At half time Greg's girl friend and a couple other of my friends were treated to some humus and pita, now this was my first time eating humus and I have to say it wasn't bad.

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Then once the game was over my friend Trevor thought he could throw a football better than Rachel.........sorry bro didn't happen.

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Nikon D200 18-250 f/5.6 1/4000 iso 400

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A friend, a car, a board, a camera......

So today after work my brother asked me if I wanted to go play basketball at the park, since I was just getting home from work I was a little tired and cranky but I went. So after about an hour of playing 3 on 3 basketball with a few friends another friend of mine drove by and saw us and quickly pulled a u turn to come say hi. When he came over to the court I asked him where he was going and he said that he was going to skate at a high school about 5 or 6 miles away. As soon as he said that the wheels in my head start turning and I asked if I could tag along, he excitingly said yes.

After a quick stop at my house for a change of clothes and my gear we hit the road. Our first stop was the local middle school (which is where the lax pics came from) where there was a freshly paved construction area for the new intermediate school being put in. Tyler had scouted the spot the day before and was pretty stoked for the shoot.

Right where I put my back pack down there was a drain the clearly said "DUMP NO WASTE" and there was about 5 bottles from the day before.

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I thought it was kinda comical but after I snapped the picture Tyler was ready. It was kinda cloudy out but it made for a nice background.

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Nikon D200 18-250 f/5 1/2500 iso 160

The sun was behind us so I had Tyler come from the other way so could get a nice silhouette of him and the clouds.

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After that I thought about going to my grandparents house which has a massive 3,000 square foot basement that isnt finished and the floor is smooth as glass for Tyler. When we got there I really wanted to find a way to blur the backround but keep Tyler clear, normally you just pan with the subject but I tried something else way more high tech.

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This ghetto chair made it easy to match his speed and get the look I wanted.

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After we got some good stuff there we went to the place were we originally wanted to go. My brother met us there and being his usual self he hoped on the board and messed around.

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But i give him credit because he came up with the idea of this pucture and at first I didnt really think that it would come out this good but I really like it.

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